“Fathers matter. New research underscores the importance of fathers in their children’s lives. Children who are close with their fathers display more advanced problem solving skills as infants, higher IQs by age three and better quantitative and verbal abilities by school age than those children with absent or less-involved fathers.

Socially, children with engaged fathers have fewer behavioral problems, greater empathy, fewer conflicts with peers, less delinquent behavior and are less likely to use drugs or lie. Psychologically, experts believe that a present and engaged father is linked with higher self-esteem, self-reported happiness and less depression.”